When making bakery products, and in particular bread loaves, two different types of dough mixes are employed: a conventional batch mix and a continuous mix. The mix used in a conventional batch process provides a stiff dough that, on baking, produces a bread loaf having a firm texture that many consumers find highly desirable. An example of a conventional batch mix baked loaf of bread, is sold by Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. under the brand name Orowheat and others. A problem with any type of bread dough either continuous dough mix or conventional batch mix is that, after mixing of the ingredients called for by the mix's recipe, air pockets of different sizes are formed by the chemical reaction of the yeast, sugar, flour and other ingredients. As the dough is transferred from a mixer it ages and the dough starts to generate at the beginning small air pockets, but as the dough ages, the small air pockets become enlarged and different sized air pockets form, requiring conditioning.
In the batch process, the air pockets are reduced in size and rendered highly uniform in size by processing the dough using numerous pieces of equipment and processing steps as depicted in FIGS. 2, 2A and 2B, and discussed subsequently in greater detail. A dough developer unit is used in the continuous process to render the air pockets uniform; however, this produces a soft dough. But this soft dough, on baking, produces a bread loaf having a soft, spongy texture.